Chapter 763 - 12 Borrowing Your Auspicious Words_2

In the counterattack, Kenny Smith passes the ball to the wing to Floyd, and Floyd’s jump shot hits the mark, giving the Rockets a 68:65 lead over the Trail Blazers by 3 points.

Bobby Berman calls for a timeout, signals for Gan Guoyang to get in, replacing Sabonis, partnering up with Mychal Thompson.

"Sonny, we’re behind now, it’s up to you," Beelman pats Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang nods. In the sprint phase of the fourth quarter, he’s back to his most familiar position as the center.

Hakeem Olajuwon also returns to the court. Don Chaney knows the decisive moment of the game has arrived.

After playing the Princeton Offense for more than three quarters, the Trail Blazers return to their most familiar style following the timeout.

Gan Guoyang, positioned on the left block, holds off Olajuwon, receives the ball, turns around, shakes Olajuwon off, steps inside, and goes up for the layup drawing a foul from Olajuwon.

Facing Olajuwon, Gan plays smarter. Simple, brute-force shots or hooks could fail, while free-throws can help regain the shooting touch.

Tonight, Gan Guoyang has only scored 15 points so far, much less than his usual scoring, no wonder the Trail Blazers and Rockets are so close in score.

Both free-throws hit, 68:67, the gap narrows down to 1 point again.

Olajuwon receives the ball in the same position, back to the basket, engaged in a one-on-one Knight battle with Gan.

Olajuwon struggles with one aspect of playing against Gan - the lack of strength advantage. Without the best positioning, he can’t budge forward when backing down.

Thus, Olajuwon can only turn and step out, taking a difficult hook shot from a farther position.

The ball bounces twice on the rim, but in the end, it falls out with Thompson grabbing the defensive rebound.

The Trail Blazers launch a fast break, with Gan Guoyang charging ahead.

Petrović accelerates too hard and stumbles near the midline, falling down.

But before he falls, he passes the ball to Gan Guoyang, who has rushed under the basket.

Gan Guoyang catches the ball and scores with a two-handed dunk! The Trail Blazers take the lead.

Olajuwon at the top of the key catches the ball, after a fake move he drives to the middle.

Thompson comes to help on defense, both box Olajuwon in, who then passes to Larry Smith cutting to the baseline.

But Smith’s layup is blocked by Gan Guoyang from behind, and the Trail Blazers regain possession of the ball.

Gan Guoyang doesn’t rush to counterattack, as Petrović slowly brings the ball past half court, Gan Guoyang pushing against Olajuwon towards the basket.

Petrović passes to Thompson, and Thompson makes a direct pass to Gan Guoyang under the basket, who has already completely overwhelmed Olajuwon.

Catching the ball and turning around, an easy layup scores!

Gan Guoyang leads a 6:0 run against the Rockets, with the Trail Blazers comfortably flipping the score.

Don Chaney calls for a timeout, the home crowd erupts in cheers. If only they had played like this earlier, wouldn’t that have been it?

This is the Trail Blazers and Ah Gan they know, with an unparalleled successful rate in low post offense, a high scoring efficiency and tough half-court defense in key moments, capable of reversing the situation on the court in a short time.

Looking at this combination of punches, even Bobby Berman himself is shaken. With such tactics, why bother with Princeton?

After the timeout, the Rockets return to the court, still relying on Olajuwon.

But when it comes to the critical moments of the fourth quarter, Olajuwon is flustered.

He misses a turn-around jump shot and a Sigma Step jump shot behind the basket.

The Trail Blazers secure the rebound.

In the first three quarters, Olajuwon has already taken on a heavy shooting load.

He has an injury on his leg, wrapped with a thick bandage around his left thigh.

When it comes to the fourth quarter, when the effort is needed, he no longer has the energy to exert.

Meanwhile, Gan Guoyang, who has preserved a ton of energy in the first three quarters, is in great shape.

He receives the ball from Porter at the top of the key, hits a mid-range jump shot.

Then in the counterattack, he pulls off a spectacular behind-the-head pass to Reggie Lewis who has caught up.

Lewis slams it home, as the Trail Blazers with sharp offense pierce through the Rockets’ defense in the latter half of the fourth quarter.

However, the Rockets do not give up the resistance, Kenny Smith hits a three-pointer, then Olajuwon finally stops Gan on one offensive attempt.

Still on the low post attack, after continuous turn-arounds with no opportunity, the ball is passed out to the perimeter, Floyd’s three-pointer misses.

Olajuwon desperately grabs the offensive rebound, facing a double team he passes to Mike Woodson cutting under the basket, and Woodson finishes with a layup.

The margin is kept around 5 points, with the Rockets playing fiercely and resiliently, creating opportunities through defense and active scrambles.

In the final two minutes of the game, the Rockets start to double team Gan Guoyang, and Gan unusually turns the ball over during the pass attempt.

Kenny Smith counters again, but this time his layup is blocked by Reggie Lewis with a big hat from behind!

However, Larry Smith, following up, grabs the offensive rebound and the Rockets still hold the offensive possession.

The ball is passed out to the perimeter, and Mike Woodson hits a crucial three-pointer!

Three-point shooting, increasing in frequency and importance on the NBA court.

Nowadays, outside players in the NBA dare to take three-point shots at critical moments, and when they hit, they indeed make a significant difference in low-scoring, tight defensive games.

The score closes in at 82:84, with the Rockets only trailing by 2 points now.

Just when the home crowd thought Gan Guoyang would stand out to deliver the final strike, Gan Guoyang, holding the ball at the high post, suddenly makes a very sudden pass under the basket.

Lewis catches the ball but doesn’t go for the layup, avoids the defense, and passes the ball to the corner. Porter receives the ball, feints with a fake move, drives in, then passes it to Petrović at 45 degrees.